The mindset in postmodernism is that objective truth does not exist. But in post-truth, the person believes that objective truth exists, but they subordinate truth to their preferences, or their comfort. In other words, one doesn’t care that truth exists or what the truth is if it doesn’t line up with one’s preferences. "There is but one straight course, and that is to seek truth and pursue it steadily" – George Washington letter to Edmund Randolph — 1795. Faith in Jesus Christ is our response to God's elective purpose in our life. These two truths–God's initiative and man's response–co-exist throughout the Bible. The gospel is "the message of truth" because truth is its predominant characteristic. Salvation was conceived by the God of truth (Ps. 31:5); purchased by the Son, who is the truth (John 14:6); and is applied by the Spirit of truth (John 16:13). To know it is to know the truth that sets men free (John 8:32). Believers are people of the truth (John 18:37), who worship God in spirit and in truth (John 4:24), and who obey the Word of truth (John 17:17). People have rejected, neglected, redefined, and opposed God’s truth for centuries. Some cynically deny that truth even exists or that it can be known by men (John 18:38). Others foolishly think that denying truth will somehow make it go away. Truth determines the validity of one's belief. Believing a lie doesn't make it true. Conversely, failing to believe the truth doesn't make it a lie. The gospel is true because Jesus is true, not simply because Christians believe in Him. His resurrection proved the truth of His claims and constitutes the objective basis of our faith (Rom. 1:4; 1 Pet. 1:3). Truth is our protection and strength (Eph. 6:14). Throughout history, people have tried everything imaginable to gain favor with God. Most turn to religion, but religion apart from Christ is merely a satanic counterfeit of the truth. At the heart of every false religion is the notion that man can come to God by any means he chooses–by meditating, doing good deeds, and so on. But Scripture says, "There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men, by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12). That name is Jesus Christ, and we come to Him by confessing and repenting of our sin, trusting in His atoning death on the cross, and affirming His bodily resurrection from the grave (cf. Rom. 10:9-10). There is no other way to God. False religious leaders and teachers talk much about God’s love, but not His wrath and holiness; much about how deprived of good things people are, but not about their depravity; much about God’s universal fatherhood toward everyone, but not much about his unique fatherhood toward all who believe in His Son; much about what God wants to give to us, but nothing about the necessity of obedience to Him; much about health and happiness, but nothing about holiness and sacrifice. Their message is full of gaps, the greatest of which leaves out a biblical worldview of the saving gospel and replaces it with the worldview of postmodernism with its dominant ethical system of relativism. The Bible describes mankind in the end times: “always learning and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 3:7). Spiritual answers cannot be deduced by human reason alone (1 Cor. 2:14). It’s not that spiritual truth is irrational or illogical, but that human wisdom is defective, because it’s tainted by man’s sinfulness, and unable to perceive the things of God. That is why the Bible is so important. It gives us the answers we can’t find on our own. It is God’s Word to mankind. Scripture is divinely revealed truth that fills the vacuum of spiritual ignorance in all of us. Post-truth is the word of the year for 2016 and also the philosophy of the day, According to the dictionary, “post-truth” means, “relating to or denoting circumstances in which objective facts are less influential in shaping public opinion than appeals to emotion and personal belief.” Simply put, we now live in a culture that seems to value experience and emotion more than truth. In a “post-truth” world, people make choices based on emotion and experience rather than objective fact. So in a post-truth world, truth is irrelevant. What exactly is a post-truth culture? It’s a culture where truth is no longer an objective reality. It has become subjective. It’s what’s true for me—my beliefs, my opinions, determine my truth. So in our post-truth culture, man determines truth. Man makes himself the ultimate authority. This starting point, which rejects God’s Word and the idea of moral absolutes, makes truth subjective. Truth will never go away no matter how hard one might wish. Christianity is grounded in objective truth. “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32). Objective truth exists because we have God’s Word. In the Gospel of John, Jesus says, “Sanctify them by Your truth. Thy word is truth” (John 17:17), and Paul and James describe the Bible as “the word of truth” (2 Timothy 2:15; James 1:18). The Psalmist says, “The entirety of your word is truth” (Psalm 119:160). Jesus Himself said, “For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice” (John 18:37). When Jesus said, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life. No one comes to the Father except by me” (John 14:6), He wasn’t expressing His personal belief or opinion. He was speaking the truth, a fundamental reality that doesn’t change from person to person. It doesn’t matter if our culture thinks all roads lead to God. The truth of the matter is “no one comes to the Father but by [Jesus].” This blogs goal is to, in some small way, put a plug in the broken dam of truth and save as many as possible from the consequences—temporal and eternal. "The further a society drifts from truth, the more it will hate those who speak it." – George Orwell

Blog Series: Family Matters

A Look at the Christian Home
Today marks the launch of a brand new series on the Grace To You blog on the family. One of the reasons we extended the creation series over several months was due to the intensity of opposition to the biblical view of origins, not just by the world, but by members of the professing church. The Bible’s teaching on the family, closely related to the doctrine of creation, has likewise been attacked and subverted from the very beginning, since Genesis 3. John explains…

Although we’ve noticed the steady, pebble-by-pebble crumbling of the family for decades, we’re now watching the landslide. We live in an age where society is no longer content to simply ignore the sanctity of marriage and the family—it attacks it with a vengeance…

Where do you turn when your family is in trouble? Some confide in a friend; others call a marriage “expert,” like a pastor or counselor. Many people in the world consult a psychologist, only to come away with theories and five-step plans; or more commonly, they call a psychiatrist and get themselves a prescription.

God’s Word has a lot to say about the family, and it’ll get to the bottom of all your trouble. Listen as John MacArthur explains…

No sane Christian questions the origin of the family. The Bible lays it out before us in unambiguous terms. God created the family—period. But why? God answered that question in the Old Testament long before any New Testament writers took up their pen. To get the divine perspective on the family, we have to go back, way back, to the very beginning….

After God created the first couple and brought them together in the first marriage ceremony, there was perfect harmony, fellowship, and joy. Adam had a wife to fellowship with; the two of them exercised dominion together. Eve had her husband to protect, provide, and care for her. All was well in Eden, for the moment . . .

What makes a family work? Is it authority—a firm-ruling father who keeps the peace? Activity—weekly date nights and regular family outings? Availability—members who make time for one another? According to Scripture, a key ingredient for a successful family is submission. Society scoffs at the very mention of the word, but God places submission at the top of His list for a unified family. John MacArthur explains…

The issue of authority and submission in the home—especially wives submitting to their husbands—is not appealing to our fallen culture. The world responds with ridicule, resistance and even rejection. Of course we expect those kinds of reactions from people hostile to divine authority; but what happens when the church falls prey to that mindset?

Sin so often seeks to do two things—express itself and excuse itself. Here’s an example: we’ve heard those stories in which an unbelieving or disobedient husband makes life miserable for his Christian wife. We’ve also heard the world’s counsel to those women—“You deserve better than this! Leave the bum! God doesn’t expect you to submit to him! Take the kids and move out!” Can you hear the appeal to sin in those recommendations? Express yourself. Excuse yourself…

The sinful tendency of fallen men is to dominate their wives by brute force. Even some Christian men are guilty of being too heavy-handed with authority. They practically lord it over their wives, as if marriage were designed to be a master-slave relationship. Some have even tried to claim that Ephesians 5:24 supports such a notion, because it urges wives to be subject to their husbands“in everything.”But that perspective of the husband’s role is antithetical to the pattern of headship Christ gives us…

The world tells husbands, “Don’t let anyone tell you what to do. Be a macho man. Grab the gusto. Live for the moment.” The Bible’s message to husbands is exactly the opposite—“Crucify yourself.” Here’s how Paul put it in Ephesians 5:25, “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself up for her.” That raises a question: Even a great Christian husband, on his best day, can’t match Christ’s loving sacrifice for the church. What does Paul expect? John MacArthur answers…

Men, what if your employer described you in an annual review as “passive, indifferent, and irresponsible”? Without a radical change in attitude and behavior, you’d find yourself looking for another job, right? If you can’t get away with it at work, why would you think it’s okay to slough off at home? The sad reality is that many husbands—though willing to work hard and expend great energy in the workplace, at recreation, or even with hobbies and leisure—many act like indolent teenagers at home, shirking their responsibilities toward their wives and children.
In today’s selection, John takes a baseball bat to the world’s version of manhood, and shows from Ephesians 5 what real manliness looks like. Here’s a bottom line: True manhood starts and ends in the home…

Children growing up in a fallen world are on a perilous journey, especially these days. Like the sirens of Homer’s Odyssey, beautiful voices entice him to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin—“Resist authority. Taste forbidden pleasures. Take control of your own life.” But one voice stands apart, contradicting all the rest with stunning boldness. God commands young people to a simple, yet profoundly wise way of life: “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.”…

There is a legitimate prosperity message in the Bible, but it’s not what you’re used to—some slick TBN preacher in an expensive suit with false promises of health and wealth. But God does promise a full, rich, and abundant life to you for obeying and honoring your parents. Listen, as John MacArthur explains God’s “prosperity gospel”—just for kids…

Many Christian couples fear the prospect of raising children. If you surveyed them, you’d probably hear something like this: “Parenting is expensive, time consuming, and complex. Having kids means I’ve got to get a bigger house, trade my SUV for a lame mini-van, set aside my personal goals, and say goodbye to time with my spouse.” Whether or not those fears are legitimate, they pale in comparison to the real pressure of parenting. John MacArthur explains…

Flip through any trendy parenting magazine today and you’ll find an endless list of tips and techniques on how to rear your children “responsibly.” Schedules, healthy meals, baby aerobics, and Baby Einstein—the world has plenty to say about “successful” parenting. But be warned . . . taking worldly advice comes with a huge price-tag. Here’s John MacArthur to explain . .

With all the timeless issues facing parents, we might expect an entire book, or at least a complete chapter of instruction from the New Testament. But God, who is infinitely wise, gave one verse to parents—that’s it. Care to know the concise instructions God gives to you, moms and dads? It’s all packed into Ephesians 6:4. John MacArthur explains…

As parents, we strive to instill respect and obedience in our children—and rightly so. That’s part of our responsibility. We take pride in training them to sit quietly, listen carefully, speak graciously and obey promptly. Sometimes, we’re tempted to think that’s the ultimate goal of parenting—controlling our children’s behavior. But is it? Listen as John MacArthur answers that question…

The New Testament gives us only one verse of positive instruction, “Bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.” But how? When you failed to find a parenting playbook in the New Testament, perhaps you turned to other sources for help…and neglected some of the most helpful, practical instruction in God’s Word. The Old Testament illustrates parenting at its best, and worst. Today, John MacArthur takes us to the very heart of it all.

Have you ever noticed how some parents treat their kids like little buddies, others rule over them with an iron fist, and others seem to achieve through their children what they never could? In each case, the poor kid completely misses the opportunity to enjoy what God created him or her to be…a kid. Let’s find out what God intended parenthood, and childhood, to be…

As Christians, we probably dismiss most of the parenting myths we encounter without a second thought, right? After all, we’re Christians, those who look to and depend upon God’s Word to determine our reality, not worldly platitudes or cultural traditions. If you’re among those who think only naïve and untaught Christians fall for unbiblical substitutes when it comes to parenting, maybe you’d better take a look at our list….

For the last several years, we’ve had a front-row seat to a vicious, violent attack on one of the Lord’s most precious institutions. And make no mistake about it—the family, as established by the Lord, is under attack…